The first TBE patients in China were reported in 1943, and the TBEV was isolated from the brain tissues of 2 patients in 1944 by Japanese military scientists,1 and from patients and ticks (Ixodes persulcatus and Haemaphysalis concinna) in 1952 by Chinese researchers.2 The Far Eastern viral subtype (TBEV-FE) is the endemic subtype that has been isolated from all 3 known natural foci (northeastern China, western China, and southwestern China).14 Recently a new “Himalayan subtype” of the TBEV (TBEV-HIM) was isolated from wild rodent Marmoata himalayana in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau15. The main vector of the TBEV in China is I. persulcatus.3 One recent report suggests that the TBEV-SIB is prevalent in the Uygur region (North West China)13 but epidemiological modelling indicates that the TBEV may occur even widely all over China (Figure 3).4 Likely, the disease is often missed by clinicians due to a lack of the availability of specific diagnostic assays16.
